Railway transfer apparatus.



PATENTED JUNE 18, 1905.

H. H. PORTER, JR. RAILWAY TRANSFER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 24, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

p WM way 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905. H. H. PORTER, J11. RAILWAY TRANSFER APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 24, 1901.

Patented June 13, 1905.

ATENT Orrien.-

HENRY H. PORTER, JR., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO SWVANITZ COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

RAILWAY TRANSFER APPARATUS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,071, dated June 13, 1905. Application filed December 24, 1901. Serial No. 87,124.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. PORTER, Jr., a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Transfer Apparatus, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in transfer apparatus for use in conjunction with power driven or other trucks or vehicles designed to run either on a railroad track or a traction floor, and has for its object the provision of mechanism whereby a plurality of traction floors at different points may be connected by means of suitable tracks, so as to permit the transfer of mer chandise from one point to another with great facility and economy.

In order that my invention may be better understood I will proceed to describe the same in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which in Figure 1 I have shown in plan view an ar rangement comprising a number of traction floors connected by suitable railway tracks, and in Figure 2 a cross section taken on the line 2 of Figure 1, and in Figure 3 a perspective view of a detail showing the means which I employ for con necting the traction floors with the railroad tracks, so as to permit the trucks to be run from one on to the other, and vice versa with out difficulty.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1, it will be seen that I haveshown therein atransfor house containing a traction floor 4, a platform 5, a railway track 6 adapted to receive railway cars, one of which is indicated at 7, and a couple of additional transfer houses or stations marked 8 and 9 respectively, each of which is preferably provided with a suitable platform as shown. In the station 8 there is a section of traction floor 8, and in the station 9 a section of like traction floor.

Between the transfer house which contains the traction floor 41 and the station 8, I have provided a track 11, which may be of any preferred construction, a like track 12 is provided between the traction floor 9 and a track 13 is provided connecting the traction floors 8 and 9 In conjunction with the apparatus just described I use one or more power driven trucks 20 (see Figure 2), which may be driven by any suitable power, as electricity or compressed air or other motive means, said trucks being constructed with wheels 15, adapted to run with equal facility upon the traction floor 4, 8 or 9 or upon the tracks 11, 12 or 13. The construction of wheel which I prefer to employ for this purpose I have made the subject matter of another application of even date herewith, which I am about to file. For the purposes of the present application it is only necessary to state relative to said wheels that they are formed with tread portions for use on the traction floors, and with flange devices for use on the tracks 11, 12, and 13. In passing from the floors to the tracks I have provided mechanism substantially such as is shown in Figure 3, wherein, adjacent to the traction floor 4, and abutting against'the end thereof is a rail 16, alongside which is an incline block 17, and an upwardly projecting guide block 18, formed with a curved surface 19, adapted to guide the wheels of the trucks on to the rail.

The operation of my invention is substan tially as follows.

Freight having been brought in by the ear 7 it is taken off the same to the platform 5. From the platform 5 it is loaded on to the trucks 20, two of which are shown in plan view on Figure 1, and can be taken by these trucks by the track 11 to the traction floor 8, and on the same to any point adjacent thereto which may be desired, or by the track 12 to the traction floor 9, and thence to any point which may be desired, or across from one of these to the other by the track 13, as may be preferred, the trucks, if a plurality are used, being permitted to pass each. other upon the several traction .floors, so as to make the rails free for use for trucks passing in either direction, without interfering with each other, and for such number of trucks as may be desired.

From the above it is obvious that since the lengthof the several connecting tracks 11, 12, and 13 is in no wise limited, my improvements are applicable to cover the necessities of a case where the traction lloors i, 8, and 9 are far apart, and also where there may be but two traction floors used, as at and 8, or 4 and 9, and the traction lloors may be arranged, one of them in a railway transfer house, and another, or any additional numher in any warehouse where it may be desired to install them.

If desired, an additional meansfor running the trucks from the rails to a plane surface or vice versa may be provided, in the form of a derailing block, one construction of which I have shown at 21, applied to the rails in position to cause the trucks to run therefrom on to an adjacent traction floor indicated at 21, or back again as necessity may require. Such blocks may be carried with each truck in order to make it convenient to get on or 0H the rails at any desired point. In order to guide the trucks when on any of the traction floors, I provide steering mechanism which includes a pivoted front axle provided with a circular rack and a revolving handle rod with a pinion, as indicated at 22. The rack on the axle is notched and engages a dog 22" for locking such steering mechanism in fixed position while the truck is running on the rails.

Having thus described my invention,what

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. A plurality of traction floors constructed for use in transfer of merchandise, in combination with rail connections between said :[loors, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a railroad track, a connected area free from rails, a truck having wheels constructed to run on either, and means for running said truck from the track to said area and vice versa at will, substantially as described.

3. In transfer apparatus the combination of a plurality of traction floors constructed for carrying trucks, with a series of tracks for said trucks connecting said floors together so that a truck may run from the lloor on to the track and vice versa' 4. The combination of a railroad track, a connected area free from rails, a truck with wheels constructed to run on either, the truck being provided with means for running from the track to said area and vice versa at will, and having steering mechanism, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a railroad track connected to, an area free from rails, a truck with wheels constructed to run on either the area or rails, and means for running said truck from the track to said area and vice versa at will, steering mechanism for said truck, and. a locking device for securing said steering mechanism, substantially as de scribed.

HENRY II. PORTER, JR.

In presence of PAUL CARPENTER, H. W. SMALLEY. 

